Couch recommendation please

Peter123

Peter123

C-Note
Location
Houston, TX
A friend of my father is looking to buy 2 couches for his family (he has 2 teenages).

His budget is $9,000 for a pair with trailer.
They will be riding in fresh water lakes.
His priority list:
1. Reliability
2. Reliability
3. Reliability
4. Stable platform that is easy to ride
5. Prefers 3 seaters

What would you suggest?
 
ger87410

ger87410

How did I get here?
Location
Fort Worth
OK. That narrows it down a little.

Primary purpose? Multipurpose? Mainly pulling? Going as fast as possible in a straight line?
The GTX 155 is extremely fast. He can go the FX sho route...

Keep in mind those suckers drink gas like most men do beer. Our mechanic spent over $300 in gas 1 time when he took two 155's out for a 3 day weekend.

EDIT: I hate when someone tells you that they have X money to get a ski but they don't know what they want. Best thing to do in those situations is have the dude find something he can afford and ask you if it's a good choice...
 
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Matt_E

Matt_E

steals hub caps from cars
Site Supporter
Location
at peace
I'd try to find two older, non-X Hondas. You might be able to swing that for 9k.
 
Peter123

Peter123

C-Note
Location
Houston, TX
They'll be multi-purpose.

I'll tell you one thing, I rode a buddy's Honda F12, and I didn't care for it much at all. It may have a great Honda engine, but the hull seemed to suck. It rode rough (if you have a couch, shouldn't it be comfy?), didn't seem to turn as well as other skis and was a fairly 'wet' ride. I actually like the ride of my old ST 750's better.

I told him I'd ask about it, and I did. Someone at the other site posted a CL listing - http://houston.craigslist.org/boa/1833272067.html so I forwarded it to him and said to see if he could get them for $8K.
 
ger87410

ger87410

How did I get here?
Location
Fort Worth
Peter123 said:
but the hull seemed to suck.
Click to expand...

I think that's a common theme in the post `92 hulls. I read a big write up about how they changed the hull design around `93 and they have had problems ever since. I think that was in relation to Seadoos. Have you seen the new SD commercial bragging about their brake? You can actually see the ski's shock absorber in action. And, no, couches are not suppose to be a soft ride, as mentioned in the instructions for riding couches posted by Vitaly here.

A few people have commented on how my 92 XP will ride the waves instead of cutting through them 'like the new hulls'.
 
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B

bassdocktor

Location
chicago
If reliability is the issue it's kinda hard to beat the Yamaha VX Deluxe. The speedo will register 58-59 but they supposedly top out under 55, never put a GPS on mine. Even at 110hp it run almost neck and neck with the Sea Doo GTI SE which is at 155hp I believe.

About a year or 2 ago they were marketed as having the best gas consumption of any model. I've had mine for 3 years with no issues. I also believe they are one of the top rental models.
 
SuziQ

SuziQ

Banned
Location
an hour or so away
Sea Doo all the way!!! :Banane25:

My ski rocks in the surf!! You should have seen what Butti did with it one time!!! It was epic! :usaribbon:

Edit: What does your reference to the hull mean Ger?
 
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vitaly

vitaly

Анархия - мать порядка!
Location
NY/NJ
Peter123 said:
A friend of my father is looking to buy 2 couches for his family (he has 2 teenages).

His budget is $9,000 for a pair with trailer.
They will be riding in fresh water lakes.
His priority list:
1. Reliability
2. Reliability
3. Reliability
4. Stable platform that is easy to ride
5. Prefers 3 seaters

What would you suggest?
Click to expand...

Any Kawi STX hull based skis.
 
SuziQ

SuziQ

Banned
Location
an hour or so away
Peter123 said:
A friend of my father is looking to buy 2 couches for his family (he has 2 teenages).

His budget is $9,000 for a pair with trailer.
They will be riding in fresh water lakes.
His priority list:
1. Reliability
2. Reliability
3. Reliability
4. Stable platform that is easy to ride
5. Prefers 3 seaters

What would you suggest?
Click to expand...

:highhorse: Sea Doo GTX DI :highhorse:
 
n0limits

n0limits

makin' power
Location
bama
my parents have a ultra 160 and a a honda they picked you used about two years ago it seems reliable and has average fuel consumption the beast does have a 20 gal tank which sucks to fill but it does seem to ride decent not ridiculously fast either. As long as they are non turbo they seem to get much better fuel mileage and are alot more reliable and cheaper to maintain.
 
vitaly

vitaly

Анархия - мать порядка!
Location
NY/NJ
SuziQ said:
Thank you, mine is a 2002.

Why please?

I like him, so I might help him, help them, idk.
Click to expand...
The 951 motors had a pretty bad reputation, although, in fact, they were pretty reliable engines after the initial 1997 run. After that, the most blow-ups were caused by electrical, lubrication and fuel system problems.
The 951 DI was a total failure, not because of the engine design, but because of the bad peripherals.
I had almost every component of my Doos go bad except the engines. Sold my 1998 GSX-L with 203 hours on the original engine with some mods with no rebuilds. 90% salt water riding.
 
Kuchera89

Kuchera89

Location
Bryan,Tx
i've gotta give props to our 1100stx, its a 99ish i believe and still kickin, we've had a few little things go wrong over the years, but this thing has seen some serious abuse from us since it was new, filled the motor with water several times. its pretty stable but you can still throw people off.


we also HAD the first year 1100di and it was a piece, wasent much faster and it craped out all the time, in its defense tho, we would all get on the stx and turn it until it started trying to dive and do that for a minute, real fun for us youngins, well when we got the DI we tryed it and it sunk(just the nose out of water) after the 4th or so time doing that, we realized it couldnt do it.

and this is the first time i've ever heard of a sea-doo being reliable, i've always heard just the opposite.
 
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